The Calm After the Storm
by ultranerd257
Summary: After the final battle with the lord of darkness, Navi, Link, and Zelda part ways. Now, Link is having nightmares. To cope, he must be reunited with his friends. Something else might come from this, however.x
1. Prologue

The Hero of Time has prevailed over the Lord of Darkness, Ganon, with the help of the royal princess, Zelda, and his closest companion, Navi. He has decided to go home to 7 years ago. Navi goes back to the Deku Tree, her job fulfilled. Zelda goes to the castle to warn her father of the evil intentions of Ganondorf.

And Link, he leaves for a new place, knowing that he can't stay in the forest for long, lest he grow into an adult. His journey takes him to the realm of Termina, which is being threatened by an imp with an evil mask.

After saving this strange world, Link goes back to the deep woods and builds himself a new tree house, deep in the forest.


	2. Chapter 1: Seven Years Later

_Seven Years Later_

"NO!"

I sat bolt upright in bed, screaming. I looked around the room wildly, breathing heavily.

I groaned and lay back down. "Another nightmare," I grumbled. I rolled over onto my side and looked out the window.

It was bright.

 _What time is it?_ I wondered. I hadn't yet heard the cucoo's call.

I leapt out of bed and ran to the window. My cucoo, Cojiro, was still asleep on his perch.

 _Why is it so bright?_

I checked the time on the clock tower in the distance.

10:05.

"Shit!"

A few days before, I was invited to be the ring bearer at Malon's wedding, which took place two and a half hours away. The problem? The wedding starts at eleven.

I scrambled to get ready. "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" I yelled.

Three minutes later, I was out the door.

"Thanks for nothing!" I yelled at Cojiro as I passed, who squawked and fell off his post.

I quickly saddled Epona and leaped on.

"Come on, girl. We've got to set a new record today," I told her, stroking her mane. "Think we can do it?"

She nickered and took off so fast, I nearly fell off.

Brooks, trees, low hanging branches, Epona would not stop for any of them. She was a very fast horse. Whenever I mentioned needing to get somewhere quickly, she would get me there in half the time.

But it still wouldn't be enough.

"Faster, Epona!" I shouted over the wind. "We're going to be late!"

There was nothing that Epona hated more than not being good enough for me, so she poured on the speed.

When we got to the ranch, it was 10:59. We made it.

I looked down and realized that I had forgotten to wear my nice tunic.

"Ugh!" I complained. "This day could not get any worse, could it, Epona?"

"Link!" said a familiar voice.

"I was wrong," I muttered, and spun around to see the one person I was hoping to avoid. The one, the only, the _beautiful_ , Princess Ruto.


	3. Chapter 2: Old Friends

"Nice of you to come out of your swamp hut for this," she teased.

"One, it's a forest. Two, it's a tree house. Three, I just covered a distance of 62 and a half miles in 54 minutes, so cut the crap." I told her, furious. "Now, I need a change of clothes."

"I have a blue one that might fit."

"Will it work for the occasion?"

"No."

"Link!" called a new voice.

I turned just in time to be tackled with a hug by an old friend.

"Zelda," I exclaimed, catching her by the shoulders and righting us both before crushing her with a proper hug. "It's been too long."

"Well," sighed Ruto. "I know when I'm not wanted."

"No, she doesn't," I whispered in Zelda's ear, with my arms still around her.

"I'm going to leave now."

No response from us.

"Ok then." She said and walked away.

Once she was out of sight, Zelda pulled away and took my face in her hands. She started to study every inch of my face.

"You look nice," I said, looking at her Maid of Honor gown.

"You don't, no offence."

"I don't have much else than this."

"Wait here," she said before running off.

A few minutes later, she returned with a rolled up piece of green cloth.

"I got this for you just in case you forgot one," Zelda explained and handed me the bundle.

I unrolled the cloth to find a green three piece suit with a yellow ranunculus pinned to the lapel.

"Zelda," I said, my voice filled appreciation. "I love it."

"Your favorite color."  
"Is it that obvious?" I asked, gesturing at my tunic.

"Go see if it fits," she laughed.


	4. Chapter 3: The Service

I came out of the house to see that the crowd had tripled in size. Waiting for me were Fado, the flower girl, and Malon, the bride-to-be.

"Malon," I said as I gave her a loose hug as to not ruin her dress. "Thanks for inviting me."

"No problem, Link."

Fado cleared her throat, and gave me an unappreciative glare.

"Yes," I told her. "I saw you, Fado, but it's only fair that I greet the bride first."

She gave a child-like huff, but then grinned. "It's good to see you again, Link," she said in her reedy soprano.'

"How are things in the forest?" I asked.

"They could be better," she replied, with an eye roll. "Mido is still a jerk. The brothers are getting restless, they read all their books a month ago. Saria spends most of her time in the temple. The deku sprout is bigger, almost ten feet tall."

"What's going on in the temple?"

"No idea. You and her are the only ones who can get past the beasts of the meadow."

 _I'll have to talk to her after the service._ I decided.

I was about to ask more when the Bridal March started to play.

"Oh, that's our cue," Malon said turning to begin her walk up the aisle.

I clasped her shoulder. "Good luck."

She nodded, and she and Fado went off to start the ceremony.


	5. Chapter 4: Nightmare

After the party, it was too late to go home. All the worst monsters of the woods came out, and are stronger, during the night. Zelda invited me to sleep at the castle. I accepted her invitation.

As I drifted off to sleep, I immediately plunged into the nightmare.

I was standing on the top of Death Mountain. At the base, there was a figure. He was around ten feet tall, black skin, and fiery red hair. In his hand was a dark, jagged sword as long as he was tall. Piled around his feet were the corpses of hylian soldiers, goron fighters, and zora warriors. Standing opposed to him were a group of six. My shadow, a smaller version of him, a tall, lanky man in a dark suit, a pale, teenage boy with a butcher's knife, and two figures that I recognized. Ben, my friend from Termina, and my brother, Flash. All of them ran towards the man, to, as I already knew, their deaths.

The figure cut down the boy with ease, and sidestepped the tall man, sending his sprawling into the magma. He ran his sword through my shadow's chest. The other shadow lept at him, but met the same fate as the others.

In no time at all, it was the man against the two Hylians. The man swung his sword at Ben, who shifted to his statue form, but it served him no purpose. As soon as the sword connected with him, he burst into rubble.

My brother stood alone. His feet were swept out from under him. He managed to get to his knees before the man raised his sword for the ending blow.

"NO!" I screamed, expecting to wake up, like I always had.

Instead, time seemed to freeze. Flash looked up at me.

"You must stop this!" he shouted at me. Time resumed, and I woke up as the blade pierced his shoulder.


End file.
